Wednesday 30 July 2014

THE WORD 'ELEPHANT', ITS SANSKRIT SOURCE, AND THE CRESPI ARTIFACT COLLECTION OF PERU AND ECUADOR

English etymological dictionaries like etymonline.com trace the source of the word 'elephant' to 'ibhah' (इभ), which is a Sanskrit word meaning 'elephant'. The elephant-keeper is known as 'ibhapa' (इभप).

German linguist Kurt Schildmann (1909-2005), in his work, 'The Schildmann Decipherment', stated that his research on ancient inscriptions discovered in Peru and Ecuador had revealed that they were similar to ancient Indus Valley' inscriptions. He had deciphered the inscriptions with the help of sanskrit.

As mentioned in the previous post Schildmann was particularly struck by one artifact from the 'Crespi Artifact Collection. This ancient artifact is pyramid shaped and has the inscription of an elephant and the sun on top followed by three rows of text-characters.

The Elephant Pyramid Artifact, Ecuador/Peru.
The inscriptions have been decoded 
with the help of Paleo-Sanskrit

Schildmann deciphered the first row as 'pil' which is the same as 'pilu' (पीलु). It is one of the many Sanskrit words for elephant.

Schildmann decoded the second word as 'alepi' and said that 'alepi' is Semitic for 'elephant'. Though if one were to decode the second line in reverse order it still reads close to 'pila' or 'pilu'. The 'third line is decoded as 'hosti' which is the same as Sanskrit 'hasti' (हस्ती) meaning 'elephant'.

Vinay Vaidya says, "We see that the one who looks after an elephant is called piluvAn or piluvantaH (one riding a 'pilu') in Sanskrit. Then transformation of a 'piluvantaH' into the word 'elephant' is just a twist and turn of the tongue. And I am sure, this Alepi is like-wise a cognate of the same word." 

A slight tweaking of the three words 'pil', 'alepi' and 'hosti', to 'pIt' (पीत), 'Alepa' (आलेप) and 'hasti' (हस्ती), - changes the meaning to 'golden', 'smeared', 'elephant'. In Sanskrit 'pIt' (पीत) means 'yellow' or 'gold', 'alepa' means 'smeared', and 'hasti' is 'elephant'. The inscription would then read,  'gold smeared elephant' or 'the golden elephant' - which probably also explains the 'sun' inscribed on the top section of the artifact.

Schildmann's Paleo-Sanskrit:









Monday 21 July 2014

SANSKRIT DECODES ANCIENT GLYPH FROM SOUTH AMERICA - THE SRI GANESHA CONNECT




Many scholars have put forth the view that the undeciphered Indus valley inscriptions are a script of the Sanskrit language. In his work, now labeled 'Schildmann Decipherment', German linguist Kurt Schildmann (1909-2005), said that his study of ancient inscriptions discovered in the caves of Peru and the United States shows that they are similar to ancient Indus Valley 'Sanskrit', suggesting that seafarers from India may have reached the Americas thousands of years ago. He called the 'language 'Paleo-Sanskrit'. Scroll down to the end to see the tables of inscriptions and the sounds each inscription represents.

Schildmann described the Indus civilization as a forerunner of other world civilizations. While doing research on the Crespi artifact collection of Cuenca, Peru, Schildmann discovered Sanskrit in inscriptions found there, as well as in the Burrows cave in southern Illinois, USA. Russel Burrows, a retired colonel of the U.S. armed forces, had accidentally discovered the cave on April 2, 1982.

Schildmann had noticed the similarity between the language of the inscriptions on the Crespi artifact in Peru and the Burrows' cave after having deciphered the inscriptions in the Indus Valley. He also said that an icon found in the Burrows' depicted the 'wisdom of the Indus Valley culture of India'.

But first a look at the Cuenca inscription. Schildmann was struck by the drawing of an elephant on top of a 'pyramid', with three lines of a legend in the artifact found in Peru.



The Elephant Pyramid Artifact, Peru.
The inscriptions have been decoded
with the help of Paleo-Sanskrit


Crespi artifact collection of Cuenca, in Peru
decoded by Kurt Schildmann

Schildman deciphered the first row as 'pil', which he linked to the Akkadian word for 'elephant'. Now, the Akkadian dictionary says that the exact word for 'elephant' is 'pilu', 'piru' or 'peru'. The female elephant in Sanskrit is known as 'pillaka' (पिल्लका) even today. The ancient Sanskrit word for 'elephant' is 'pilla' (पिल्ल). Also what is interesting is that a prominent name for Sri Ganesha, the Vedic elephant-god, in Tamil is 'Pillai'.



Sri Ganesha - the Vedic Elephant God
is also known as Pillai in Dravadian Languages.
In Sanskrit also 'pilla' (पिल्ल) means 'elephant

Researcher A. K. Narain states that the words pallu, pella, and pell in the Dravidian family of languages signify 'tooth or tusk', also 'elephant tooth or tusk'.

A variant of 'pilu' in Akkadian, as mentioned above is 'peru'. Is it possible that the country name 'Peru' is linked to the 'elephant' - assuming that it was known by the same name thousands of years back. Again, 'peru' (पेरू) also means 'golden mountain' in Sanskrit, and that it refers to the pyramid shape of the artifact is another possibility.


Schildmann decoded the second word as 'alepi' and said that 'alepi' is Semitic for 'elephant'. Though if one were to decode the second line in reverse order it still reads as 'peala'. The 'third line is decoded as 'hosti' which is the same as Sanskrit 'hasti' (हस्ती) meaning 'elephant'. 


Professor Kurt Schildmann  work called 'The Decipherment' has unfortunately disappeared from publication, however a copy of his work in his own handwriting still exists and efforts are being made to reveal this suppressed information so that recognition may be given to this profound work in the study of Paleolithic culture worldwide.
                                                          ... to be continued.








Tuesday 15 July 2014

THE MOUNTAIN & RIVER NAMES OF THE URAL RANGE OF RUSSIA - A SPRINKLING OF SANSKRIT



Mount Yamantau is the highest mountain in the Southern Urals. Though the name means 'evil' mountain in the local Bashkir language, its name seems to be derived from Sanskrit 'yamya' (याम्य) which means 'southern'. It could also be named after the Vedic Lord Yama, who emerges as 'Jima' in the Iranian legends

In the book, 'On the Possible Location of the Holy Hara and Meru Mountain', the author S. Zharnikova states that, "...precisely in the watershed section of Northern Urals (Russia), to this day, there are many place names of intriguing similarity of Indo Iranian words: Harino, Harova, Harina Mountain, Harinskoye, Harinskaya, Harinovskaya: Mandara, Mandarova, Mandra; Ripino, Ripinka, Ripa (and Reipie Mountain). Just as interesting are the river names of still unknown origin: Indola, Indomanka, Sindosa, Varna, Striga, Svaga, Svalka, Hvarzenta, Harina, Pana, Kobra, Tora, Arza etc.

The author states that these 'Indo-Iranian' names are of 'unknown origin'. But each one of these names are words of the Sanskrit language and therefore easily explained, some of them are even mentioned as proper nouns in the Indian scriptures. The 18th and 19th century author often traced the names to the ancient Iranian language called Avestan but never ventured further back in history with the help of Sanskrit.

'Hari' (हरि) is Sanskrit for 'god' and 'harin' (हारिन्) means 'captivating'. God is referred to as 'hara' in Sanskrit in the sense as the one who 'captivates'. 


'Mandara' (मन्दार) means 'heaven'. 'Mandara' is the name of the mountain that appears in the 'Samudra Manthan' episode in the Hindu Puranas, where it was used as a churning rod to churn the ocean of milk. Vishnu's serpent, Vasuki, offered to serve as the rope pulled on one side by a team of asuras, and on the other, by a team of devas.


'Ropa' (रोप ) is Sanskrit for 'act of raising', and 'ropita' (रोपित) means 'that which is elevated' and therefore indicates a 'mountain'.

The river names are interesting too. First of all there is a 'Sindosa' river in the Urals and is obviously linked to the 'Sindh' of India. The 'Sindh' river or the Indus gets its name from Lord 'Indra'. In the Urals too, there exist river names such as Indola and Indomanka.

Then there are the 'Striga' and the 'Svaga'. They are at once a reminder of the River Ganga of India, or even of the Volga.. In Sanskrit 'ganga' means 'swift-goer'.

Russian historian and Linguist Nikolai Trubetzkoy (1890-1938), in his lectures at the University of Vienna, traced the origins of the name 'Volga' to the Slavic 'Jilga', which he said, in course of time changed to the name 'Volga'.

Roman Jakobson, Russian linguist and literary theorist, quoted Nikolai Trubetzkoy's research thus, "In primitive eastern Slavic, un-rounded front vowels changed into rounded back vowels before a tauto-syllabic 'l', so that 'jilga' must have changed to julga; the initial 'j' was lost before rounded vowels in eastern Slavic, and the initial u acquired an obligatory  'v'. Thus the form 'vulga' arose, and the short 'u' changed in the 12th–13th centuries into 'o'. So through a long series of changes Jilga became Volga". 


Jilga is a close cognate of the Sanskrit 'jalaga', 'jala' (जल) is water, 'ga' stems from the Sanskrit 'gam' (गम्) and indicates 'movement' - so that 'julga' means 'flowing water'.

The name of the river 'Pana' is explained by the Sanskrit 'pana' (पान) which means a 'drink'. The name 'Arza' is explained by the word 'aarsha' (आर्ष) which means 'speech of the sages'; in fact the Vedas are also known as 'Aarsha'. The name 'Tara' is explained by Sanskrit 'tara' (तर) which means 'fluid'.

The name Hvarzenta seems to be derived from the Sanskrit 'varasha' (वर्षा) meaning 'rain'. Another river in Russia by the name 'Varzina' seems to have the same etymological source. 

The present day river names may also have their source in Sanskrit.


 The present day river names of Eastern Europe.
Sukhona, Dvina, Vyatka, Kama and Pecchora
probably have Sanskrit roots.

According to the Max Vasmer's Etymological Dictionary, the name 'Sukhona' originates from Russian and most likely means "a river with a dry (hard) bottom". If the operative word here is 'dry', then 'Sukhona' derives from the Sanskrit 'shushka' (शुष्क) from which the Hindi word 'sukha' derives. Max Vasmer (186-1962) was a Russian born German linguist.

In his works, Max Vasmer stated that the toponym 'Dvina' clearly cannot stem from a language of the Ural region, its origin is unclear and may have possibly originated from an Indo-European root word which used to mean river or stream. The word may hence be related to the Sanskrit root word 'dhaav' (धाव्) which means 'to flow'.

The etymology of 'Vytaka' is completely unknown. In Sanskrit 'Vyatiga' (व्यतिगा) means 'pass by'. The Sanskrit origins of 'Kama' are well known and explains the name of the river Kama. Finally the name 'Pecchora'- in Sanskrit '
Picchora' (पिच्छोरा) means a 'pipe' and the Hindi 'picchakari' (water-gun) derives from 'picchora'.

Monday 7 July 2014

MT. MERU AND THE SANSKRIT ORIGINS OF THE ZOROASTRIAN 'MT. HARA LEGEND'

In the Rigveda, Mt. Meru is described as a transcendental mountain extending from the deepest ocean up into space. The summit of Meru, says the Rig Veda, is near the North Star or Polaris.

Meru has often been interpreted to be a mountain, even though the word 'meru' (मेरु) in Sanskrit means 'spine'. For example, the human spinal nerve is known as 'meru-cheta (मेरू -चेता). It is therefore correct to interpret 'meru' as the 'axis' of the earth.

However, the name Meru has been known around the world since deep antiquity. There is a Mt. Meru in Tanzania. The etymology of the name Cameroon may itself lie in meru, considering that the largest mountain chain there is known as Mandara, the sister mountain peak of Meru in the Puranas. The highest peak in the Mandara chain there is known as Cameroon, and the second highest is the Mekou. It is not illogical to interpret these names as Ku-Meru, and Meru- especially because they lie in the Mandara chain. The oldest recorded name of Egypt. To read about the link between the name America and Meru click here.

In fact Indian texts refer to three parts of the axis, the 'sumeru' (सुमेरु) which is the end that points to the Pole Star, the centre which is the 'meru', and 'kumeru' (कुमेरु) which is the southern tip of the earth's axis.

In Avestan cosmogony, Mt. Hara and not Mt. Meru, is the geographic center of the universe. The pinnacle of Mt. Hara is Mount Hukairya, translated as 'of good activity' in the Yasht, a collection of 21 Zoroastrian hymns. From Hara springs the source of all waters of the world. These waters rush down from the mountain as the mighty world river Aredvi Sura Anahita (translated as 'fertile, powerful, spotless), which in turn feed the great sea Vourukasa, upon which the world rests.


The Avestan 'Aredvi' meaning fertile' has its source in Sanskrit 'artava' (आर्तव) meaning 'fertile', 'sura' (सुरा) is Sanskrit for 'goddess' and hence the equivalent of the Avestan 'powerful', 'anahita' from Sanskrit 'ana-ahita' (अन -अहिता) 'that which is 'proper' - 'ahita' (अहिता) means 'improper', the prefix 'ana' reverses the meaning.

In Sanskrit 'good activity' may be translated as 'su-karya' (सु - कार्य) and may therefore be the source of the Avestan 'Hukairya' - the Sanskrit 's' distorts to 'h' exactly as it does in the name 'Sindhu' to 'Hindu'!


By the same logic 'Hara', which in Avestan legend is the source all waters of the world, may indeed be 'sara' (सर) which is Sanskrit for 'spring', or' fluid' or 'water-body'. 

The sacred plant 'haoma' grows on Hara, which indeed then has to be the Vedic 'soma' (सोम) - the elixir of the gods. Another possibility is that the word 'hara' may have passed on into Hebrew and Avestan from Sanskrit 'hara' meaning 'god'.For more on this click here.

The Zoroastrian texts say that Hara is free of the 'devas' - who are regarded as 'false gods' and 'evil spirits'. As the separation of the Zoroastrianism from the Vedas progressed, the 'devas' began to be regarded as 'evil' and the 'asura' became the object of reverence. Hence the name Ahura Mazda - the highest spirit of worship in Zoroastrianism. Once again the 'h' of Ahura may be read as 's'.

Researchers and explorers trying to locate the original 'Meru' are unlikely to find it geographically. The name is not mythical, it is however the interpretation that is incorrect. The 'meru' of the Vedas is a reference to the earth's axis, and there
 is much more to the concept of Meru. 

The 4th century BCE Indian mathematician Pingala described Mount Meru as a pyramid of numbers that can be added together diagonally into the well-known series {1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 ... ∞} now named after Fabionacci found throughout nature as proportions of growth. 

The Fibonacci Sequence is the series of numbers where the next number is found by adding up the two numbers before it. For example, the 3 in the series is found by adding the two numbers before it (1+2). If we take a number in the series  and divide it by the number preceding it, we find that as we progress down the series we reach the perfect value of phi= 1.6180339... and so on.

Pingala's 'Prastara-Meru' or 'Steps of Meru'.
The triangle was later adopted by
Fibonacci in his  work  in Mathematics 

from the original works of Pingala,
 the ancient Indian mathematician.
Pingala indicated through his 'Prastara Meru' that all solar system periods fit the Fibonacci series. His Meru Pyramid concept links all the planets and the Sun into a harmonious system represented by the Fibonacci series.


Another another Indian mathematician, Bhaskara presented a triangular array of the binomial coefficients as 'Khanda Meru', later adopted by Pascal and today known as Pascal's Triangle.

Pascal's Triangle is derived from
the 'Khanda-Meru' of the 

ancient Indian mathematician
Bhaskaracharya

Suggested links:

Tuesday 1 July 2014

THE UPPSALA TEMPLE, SWEDEN - THE SANSKRIT CONNECT

Uppsala is the capital of Uppsala County and the fourth largest city of Sweden. The ancient Temple at Uppsala was a religious center in the ancient Norse religion once.

Located at what is now Gamla Uppsala ('gamla' is Swedish for 'old'), this temple is attested in Adam of Bremen's 11th-century work 'Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum' and in Heimskringla, written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century.

So what is the etymology of this word. Western scholars trace the word sala in Uppsala to German Saal, Romanian Sala, Dutch zaal, Icelandic salur, Swedish and Danish sal, Finnish sali, French salle and Italian sala - ultimately to the reconstructed language Proto-Indo-European, which of course never existed. The various forms of 'sala' mentioned above in various languages all mean 'hall'. Wiktionary states that Swedish 'uppsala' is borrowed from from Old Norse Uppsalir (literally “upper halls, upper dwellings”), from upp (“up”) + salir (“halls, rooms”), plural of salr, which is exactly what it means in Sanskrit.


Sweden Uppsala Mound

In Sanskrit 'upasthan' (उपस्थान) means 'sanctuary'. Then again 'upa' (उप) means 'above' and 'shala' (शाला) means 'hall' - literally 'the hall above'. The suffix 'shala' is commonly used in Sanskrit and Hindi in words such as 'pathshala' (पाठशाला) 'school', 'gaushala' (गौशाला) 'cow-shed' etc.

To read about the Sanskrit connect to the name 'Sweden' click here.

Blog Archive